U.S. stock futures are pointing lower in pre-market trading for Tuesday, July 26. The Dow Futures are down at 18416.0 for a loss of -4.00 points. The S&P 500 Futures are at 2161.0 for a loss of -1.25 points. The Nasdaq Futures are flat at 4654.5 for a gain of 0.75 points. The Russell Futures are down at 1207.0 for a loss of -0.10 points.

In overnight trading in the Eastern Hemisphere:

Asia
Japan Nikkei 225 16383.04 -237.25 points -1.43%
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 22129.73 136.29 0.62%
China’s Shanghai Composite 3050.17 34.34 1.14%
India’s S&P BSE Sensex 27976.52 -118.82 -0.42%

Europe
FTSE 100 6720.32 10.19 0.15%
Germany DAX 10201.63 3.39 0.03%
France CAC 40 4370.30 -17.70 -0.40%
Stoxx Europe 600 340.23 -0.70 -0.21%

Tuesday’s Factors and Events

Stocks are trading lower ahead of a two-day policy meeting from the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve’s meeting will conclude on Wednesday afternoon with a policy statement. The Fed is not expected to raise rates at this month’s meeting however the meeting will indicate the Fed’s direction.

On the economic calendar for Tuesday is the following: S&P Case-Shiller HPI, PMI Services Flash, New Home Sales, Consumer Confidence, Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index, State Street Investor Confidence Index, 4-Week Bill Auction and 5-Yr Note Auction.

Stocks trading actively in the pre-market include: Centene, Newmont Mining, Facebook, Berkshire Hathaway, Gilead Sciences, Whole Foods Market, Chipotle, Darden Restaurants and Amgen.

For the day investors will be watching a long list of earnings as the second quarter earnings season continues. In the Dow highlights will be Verizon, DuPont, MMM, McDonald’s and Apple.

Monday’s Activity

For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average was lower at 18493.06 for a loss of -77.79 points or -0.42 percent. The S&P 500 was also lower, closing at 2168.48 for a loss of -6.55 points or -0.30 percent. The Nasdaq Composite was also lower at 5097.63 for a loss of -2.53 points or -0.05 percent.

Other notable index closes included the small-cap Russell 2000, lower at 1209.82 for a loss of -3.07 points or -0.25 percent; the S&P 600 Small-Cap Index lower at 739.19 for a loss of -2.67 points or -0.36 percent; the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index lower at 1546.80 for a loss of -5.54 points or -0.36 percent; the S&P 100 Index lower at 959.17 for a loss of -3.12 points or -0.32 percent; the Russell 3000 Index lower at 1279.79 for a loss of -3.78 points or -0.29 percent; the Russell 1000 Index lower at 1200.70 for a loss of -3.59 points or -0.30 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index was lower at 623.68 for a loss of -2.35 points or -0.38 percent.